On the contrary, his impressions change after passing the barriers. “Nothing in London,” says he, “can enter into comparison with the imposing spectacle which is presented by the magnificent Champs Elysées, with the Château of the Tuileries en face, and to the right the superb dome of the Invalides glistening in the rays of the setting sun.”
Paris had at this time 2,948 “voitures de louage,” which could be hired for any journey to be made within reasonable distance; and eighty-three which were run only on predetermined routes, as were the later omnibuses and tram-cars. These 2,948 carriages were further classified as follows; 900 fiacres; 765 cabriolets, circulating in the twelve interior arrondissements; 406 cabriolets for the exterior; 489 carrosses de remise (livery-coaches), and 388 cabriolets de remise.
The préfet de police, Count Anglès, had received from one Godot, an entrepreneur,—a sort of early edition of what we know to-day as a company promoter,—a proposition to establish a line of omnibuses along the quais and boulevards. Authorization for the scheme was withheld for the somewhat doubtful reason that “the constant stoppage of the vehicles to set down and take up passengers would greatly embarrass other traffic;” and so a new idea was still-born into the world, to come to life only in 1828, when another received the much coveted authority to make the experiment.
Already such had been established in Bordeaux and Nantes, by an individual by the name of Baudry, and he it was who obtained the first concession in Paris.
The first line inaugurated was divided into two sections: Rue de Lancry—Madeleine, and Rue de Lancry—Bastille.
It is recorded that the young—but famous—Duchesse de Berry was the first to take passage in these “intramural diligences,” which she called “le carrosse des malheureux;” perhaps with some truth, if something of snobbishness.
There seems to have been a considerable difficulty in attracting a clientèle to this new means of communication. The public hesitated, though the prices of the places were decided in their favour, so much so that the enterprise came to an untimely end, or, at least, its founder did; for he committed suicide because of the non-instantaneous success of the scheme.
The concession thereupon passed into other hands, and there was created a new type of vehicle of sixteen places, drawn by two horses, and priced at six sous the place. The new service met with immediate, if but partial, success, and with the establishment of new routes, each served by carriages of a distinctive colour, its permanence was assured.
Then came the “Dames Blanches,”—the name being inspired by Boieldieu’s opera,—which made the journey between the Porte St. Martin and the Madeleine in a quarter of an hour. They were painted a cream white, and drawn by a pair of white horses, coiffed with white plumes.
After the establishment of the omnibus came other series of vehicles for public service: the “Ecossaises,” with their gaudily variegated colours, the “Carolines,” the “Bearnaises,” and the “Tricycles,” which ran on three wheels in order to escape the wheel-tax which obtained at the time.